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Home , Alan Menken, All I Know, Back in the High Life, Bless the Broken Road, Burt Bacharach, Jane Olivor

Great Lost Jane Compiled by Wendy Fraser Copyright Wendy Fraser 2012

A favourite topic among fans is the songs we’ve heard in concert that have never found their way to the recording studio. This is by no means a definitive list, but we think it’s a pretty comprehensive one. There are enough “great lost Jane songs” here to fill several CDs. Read ‘em and weep at what we’re missing…or be grateful, truly and duly grateful, for the ones you’ve been fortunate to hear.

1. A Certain – Jane’s lovely tribute to mentor “sung with a certain inflection.” Performed at the Rrazz Room and Berklee in , December 2008.

2. A Woman Likes to Be Told – (). Jane sang a rare version of this old gem in the 1990s. The lyrics, “A woman likes to be told, that her is spun of gold,” seemed particularly appropriate at , because this was her 1990s blonde period.

3. After All These Years – Jane used this to open concerts circa 2003. It was similar in theme to You because it celebrated Jane’s relationship with her fans.

4. Alfie – (-Hal ) Rrazz Room May 2008. Proves a great singer can also be a great actress. Her reading of the line, “Until you find the love you’ve missed, you’re nothing, Alfie,” was spine-chilling. She almost growled the word “nothing” before dropping to a near-whisper for the name “Alfie.”

5. () – popularized by

6. All the Time – a tribute to her idol and soon-to-be mentor Johnny Mathis. Jane performed it at her debut at Studio One in 1976.

7. Angeline – (Jason Darrow and Stephen Schwartz). Los Angeles, March 1980.

8. Anyone Can Whistle – () From the Broadway musical of the same name. The Keswick, October 2004.

9. Anyone Who Had A Heart – (Burt Bacharach-). The Rrazz Room 2008. Jane put the torch to this old / number, while easily navigating her way through its many time signatures.

10. Back in the High Life Again – (). Sung at her triumphant Town Hall concert in May 1, 2004.

“Don’t be surprised to see me back in the bright part of town,” Jane sang. “I’ll be back in the high life again and all the doors I closed one time will open again.”

11. Beautiful Noise – (). Sung right after Diamond’s Brooklyn Roads at the Bottom Line in New York City, September 1976.

12. – (-). Circa 1995. She sang a beautifully controlled and perfectly modulated version of this movie theme.

13. Bless the Broken Road – () A country-tinged ballad sung at Scullers in 2007. “I set out on a narrow way many years ago/Hoping I would find true love along the broken road/But I got lost a time or two, wiped my brow and kept pushing through/I couldn’t see how every sign pointed straight to you.”

14. Both Sides the Tweed - sung as the final encore during Jane’s 2007 performances at the Plush Room. A folk song a la Aileen Duinn about the Scottish versus the English. Check out Mary Black’s version on YouTube.

15. Bridge Over Troubled Water () – the Simon and Garfunkel classic, sung in a medley with Danny Boy. Mentioned in a very early New York Daily News review, September 1974.

16. Calling Out For You – Jane used this up tempo number with a thumping drum beat and lilting flute as her opening number circa 1982. Part of the chorus goes like this: “The tide is strong/But your love is stronger/In the morning sun when the songbirds are calling/I am calling too/Calling out for you.”

17. Chanson – (Stephen Schwartz) A song from the 1976 musical The Baker’s Wife. Sung in alternating French and English verses in a bittersweet ballad version by Jane. In her introduction, Jane explained that “Chanson” was about “how the world turns and the sun rises every day and new people come into your life and people will tell you different stories and the sun comes up and goes down and basically your life is the same until love touches your life.” Or words to that effect…

18. Count on Dreams

19. Cry Without A Reason – ( D. Pitchford, Stephen Schwartz). Royce Hall, L.A., March 1980

20. Danny Boy – Jane was singing this famous Irish lament at Reno Sweeney the first time Jason Darrow ever heard her sing.

21. Delilah – the old Tom Jones warhorse sung by Jane very, very early in her career. “Why, why, why Delilah?” “Why, why, why Jane?” “Hey, what did I know?” Jane said in explanation.

22. Don’t Want a Heartache – the one unreleased Jane Olivor song Jason Darrow said is definitely in the vaults at Columbia/Sony. It was written by Darrow and Gerard Cohen and recorded by Melissa Manchester. “I don’t want a heartache/I don’t want a heartache/I’m leaving now and I’m never coming back.”

So….Take that!!

23. Down in Mary’s Land (Mary Chapin Carpenter). 1992-94 concerts. Jane changed the lyric, “You don’t need nothing but beer and a bushel down in Mary’s Land” to “You don’t need nothing but to share the moment down in Mary’s Land.” Hmmm – Jane as a member of the Temperance Union? This was in the days before she moved to Maryland. Do you suppose the song inspired her choice of her current home?

24. Dreamscape – (Stephen Schwartz) Early 1990s. One reviewer described it as “spacey,” “New Age” and a song that “would appeal to Enya fans.” “Time to sail, reluctant pilgrim/My fear is all I’ve got to lose/My life is nothing, nothing but a dreamscape/And the dream is mine to choose.”

25. Everybody Has a Dream – ()

26. For Always – A very early song written by Jane. “I wrote For Always for someone I loved very much in my past. I guess you always love that first one forever. Anyways, that’s what I tried to say with that song. I know I will always love my first one.” Sung in New York City cabarets circa 1974-75.

27. Forgiveness’s Embrace (Stephen Schwartz) – 2002. A song for every hurting child and struggling parent. This is one of Jane’s most heart-wrenching performances, with lyrics about forgiving poor flawed parents, valiant lovers and “myself the sin of not being all I planned and all I thought I should have been.” At the song’s conclusion, Jane would bow her head and enfold herself in her own forgiving hug.

28. Gandhi Buddha – (Cheryl Wheeler) 2006-08. A song of gratitude and wonder for the arrival of love in one’s life.

29. Grateful – () Jane reportedly recorded this song during the Love Decides sessions. Bucchino is a Stephen Schwartz prodigy; therefore it’s not surprising his songs would find their way to Jane.

She is a great singer of songs of redemption and spiritual healing and this is one of them; it’s about clearing away everyday worries and cares to be truly grateful for life’s blessings.

30. Hava Negila – Jane sang this famous Hebrew folk song the night Jason Darrow discovered her at Reno Sweeney.

31. He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands – Yes, that song. Another early number performed in NYC cabarets circa 1975.

32. Hello Young Lovers – (Rodgers and Hammerstein). From The King and I.

33. Help Is on the Way (Written by David Friedman for Nancy LaMott). Jane began singing it in 2001, just after Friedman’s – and LaMott’s – “I’ll Be Here for You” appeared on Love Decides. Another of Jane’s many uplifting songs about hope and optimism.

“If you have faith that things are happening as they should/ Just believe that each step you take is leading you to something good. Help is on the way from places you don’t know about today/From friends you may not have met - yet/ Believe me when I say/Help is on the way.”

34. The – Jimmy Webb’s mystical song of reincarnation performed at her 1993-94 concerts. Because she wanted the song to include a female perspective, the third verse was re-written to reflect the feelings of a Depression-era farmer’s wife “in my aprons and my pride.”

An absolutely haunting by Ken Bichel begins with twanging banjo accompaniment and ends with space-age sounds. Jane’s majestic vocal wails off eerily into the stratosphere at the end after she vows, “I’ll find a place to rest my spirit if I can/Or perhaps I will become a highwayman again.”

Jane introduced The Highwayman with comments about Webb’s subtle approach to song writing and how the themes of his songs tended to “sneak in through the back door,” rather than striking the listener/audience head-on.

35. How To Handle A Woman – (Lerner and Loewe). From . Introduced by Jane with remarks about how she considered herself a very old and frequently had flashbacks and memories. On one occasion, she said she was walking through a forest and came upon two men who were intensely discussing relationships. One was a “high- ranking official”; the other was a “guy named Merlin.”

What a uniquely Jane way to introduce this song!

36. I Got a Name – the Jim Croce song. Sung as the opening number of Jane’s concerts at The Ballroom in New York City in October 1975.

37. I Know Where I’m Going – (Traditional) Reflects Jane’s roots in traditional , written in the 19th century and claimed by both the Scots and the Irish. She frequently sang this in the early as a powerful medley with The Water is Wide, in an arrangement by her longtime friend Stephen Schwartz.

The Water is Wide/I Know Where I’m Going medley is often cited as one of Jane’s greatest performances.

38. – sung in a medley with Right Here Waiting For You. Plush Room, San Francisco, 2007.

39. If I Loved You – (Rodgers and Hammerstein). From the Broadway musical Carousel. Circa 1995.

40. If This Love – written by R. Patton – K Chater. Circa 1977.

41. – now a pop standard. Rod McKuen’s English translation approximates ’s French classic .

42. I’m Coming Home Again – (Bruce Roberts and ) Mid-1990s. Recorded by Dusty Springfield. A song of healing and spiritual renewal that seemed so appropriate for Jane’s 1990s ‘comeback.’

“And though my answers are still undefined/By taking chances I can start to find some reasons/Something to believe in/I can make it through/I can make it through/And I’m coming home again/It’s been too long a time/Getting back what’s mine/And I can’t remember why I went away/But it’s looking now like maybe I can stay.”

Interesting point: In Jane’s version, the lyrics have changed from “I’m not as lonely as I was before” to “I’m not as frightened as I was before.”

43. Isn’t It Romantic – (Rodgers and Hart). Sung at Westbury Music Fair 2004 right up to the Rrazz Room 2008. Give this woman an orchestra and let her sing the Great American Songbook!

44. It Don’t Matter to Me. A duet sung with Johnny Mathis at the Seattle Opera House, Jan. 30, 1978 and at other venues during their tour that winter.

45. It’s In Every One of Us – (David Pomerantz). A mini-song performed at the Reno Sweeney reunion concert and again circa 2005.

46. I’ve Been Saved by the Grace of Your Love. Mentioned by reviewers covering Jane’s concerts post First Night.

47. – a very rare foray into classical music. Jane sang this song circa 1977. It was written in 1919 by English composer Herbert Howells, with lyrics by the English poet Walter De La Mare.

The opening lines are: “King David was a sorrowful man. No cause for sorrow had he/And he called for the music of a hundred harps/To ease his melancholy.”

A long way from doo-lang, doo-lang, doo-lang!

48. Kiss Me With the Wind – (Brenda Russell) Plush Room 2007.

49. La Goualante de Pauvre Jean – (written by Edith ’s longtime composer Monnot; perhaps better known as The Poor People of ). Sung at Avery Fisher Hall and Ontario Place 1980, with Jane grinding those Gallic consonants. The song is entirely in French. At Ontario Place, Jane ended La Goualante with a playful and coquettish knee kick. Ooh la la!

50. Learning How to Fly. A great upbeat, c’mon everybody number that has been in her repertoire for most of the past decade.

51. Let’s Fall in Love – ( – Ted Koehler) circa 2005. A jazzy, sophisticated number similar in tone to I’ve Got the Sun in the Morning.

52. Little Boy Lost - Theme from the movie Pieces of Dreams. (, Marilyn and Alan Bergman). 2008 Rrazz Room.

53. Love Changes Everything () – from the musical Aspects of Love

54. Love is Letting Go of Fear – (Olivia Newton-John) 2008 Rrazz Room. The chorus was sung in an East Indian dialect, with backup harmonies from pianist Alex Rybeck

55. Masquerade – an Edith Piaf song sung by Jane very early in her NYC career.

56. Milord – a Piaf classic, performed with Masquerade at Gypsy’s cabaret, July 1975.

57. Mr. Bojangles – (Jerry Jeff Walker) Plush Room 2006, Scullers 2007. Yes, THAT Mr. Bojangles, made famous by Sammy Davis Jr. Complete with gestures and movements suggesting the grace and dexterity of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Jane introduced this song by saying she’d been watching Dancing With the Stars.

58. Never Have I – (Kathy Wakefield – Stephen Schwartz) Written for Jane, sung in Los Angeles, March 1980. Kathy Wakefield said the lyric was about being all things to all people, but never quite to the level or depth of another i.e. a bronc rider’s love of the rodeo or a pilot’s love of flying.

Kathy Wakefield co-wrote Marigold Wings and Pretty Girl with Jane.

59. Oh What a Beautiful Morning (Rodgers and Hammerstein). Another classic from the composer of Jane’s signature song, Some Evening. Sung at the Plush Room, San Francisco, March 2007.

60. Oifen Pripetchik (traditional Yiddish folk song). Jane sang this song circa 2001 as a tribute to her father. Oifen Pripetchik translates as “At the fireplace.” The song describes how the Rebbe (teacher) teaches the Torah and the alphabet to young children, telling them to never forget who they are. He also tells them the tears and weeping of the exiled Jewish people can be found in the letters of their alphabet.

61. The Other Side of Me – (Neil Sedaka) This song has been in and out of Jane’s repertoire over the years. She sang it in the fall of 1975 and it was back on her song list for the summer of 1993 tour.

62. Pardon Me, Haven’t We Met? – () 2007-2008. Jane’s most recent opening number. An up-tempo, swinging song with a new take on how Shakespeare’s Romeo met Juliet.

63. Past the Point of Rescue (Mick Hanley)

64. Right Here Waiting For You – () A love song of pure devotion. “Wherever you go, whatever you do, I’ll be right here waiting for you.”

65. Rhymes With Love – Rrazz Room 2008. Another demonstration of Jane’s flair for languages as she sings ‘I love you’ in the chorus in several languages.

66. Sailing On – (P. Brown, M. Sylvestri) Jane performed this on circa 1977 and again in Los Angeles in March 1980. It begins, “Two boats on the water, drifting apart.”

67. Shenandoah – the classic American folk song, paired in a medley with The Water is Wide.

68. Short Goodbyes – 2004-05. Written for Jane after the death of her beloved dog Scooter. “I prefer the short goodbyes, but there are no short goodbyes with you…so goodbye to short goodbyes…and goodbye to you.” A very poignant song that left Jane and her audience close to tears.

69. Since I Gave My Heart Away - (Stephen Schwartz). A ballad written for the TV special Gepetto.

70. Since You Asked – () Sung at the Safe Return concert Nov. 1, 2003, but not included on the CD or DVD.

71. Song of Bernadette – ( and Jennifer Warnes). One of the Great Lost Jane Songs. Fans who’ve heard her simple and pure version of this Cohen classic call it “goosebump-inducing.”

One can only imagine the deep emotion Jane would bring to the lyrics of this angelic tune:

There was a child named Bernadette I heard the story long ago She saw the queen of heaven once And kept the vision in her soul No one believed what she had seen No one believed what she heard But there were sorrows to be healed And mercy, mercy in the world.

Jane’s version was reportedly better than Jennifer Warnes’ or ’s renditions. (But then we’re biased!)

72. Stranger In Paradise – From the Broadway show Kismet.

73. – Michel LeGrand’s intricate and vocally challenging theme from the movie Summer of ’42; sung at Scullers in Boston 2007 and one of Jane’s most sensuous songs.

74. This is (Jimmy Webb) – performed circa 1977.

75. Time Flies – (Jimmy Webb) San Francisco 2007.

76. The Times They Are A-Changing – ’s classic 1960 protest song, reportedly recorded during the Love Decides sessions. Well, she always said she was a folkie.

77. Unknown Soldier – Written by her then-musical director Bob Stein. Performed in the summer of 1993 and very timely because of its theme of gays in the military and President Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. “They gave him a medal for killing 10 men, then took it away for loving one.” Written about Air Force Sgt. Leonard Matlovitch. Very powerful stuff. Reviewers wrote of the strong sense of “indignation” Jane expressed in this song.

78. Until the Balance Tips (John Bucchino) 1990s. Another powerful statement, this time about AIDS. “Some people say we’ve lost our American way. Wake up, shake up,” Jane exhorted as she and her backing musicians on piano and picked up force and intensity like a train steaming down the tracks.

79. We’re All Alone – (Boz Scaggs). Circa 1977-78

80. What Now My Love (Et Maintenant) – another very early song circa 1975. Also written by Gilbert Becaud, composer of L’important C’est La Rose.

81. What the World Needs Now – Burt Bacharach would bring Jane onstage to sing this Bacharach-David classic at the end of the second act during their joint concerts in the Midwest in the summer of 1978.

82. Where Knowledge Ends – (Burt Bacharach-Hal David) sung as a medley with Alfie, Rrazz Room 2008. In her introduction to the song, Jane said she first heard it while working as a secretary at a music publisher’s office in New York. Where Knowledge Ends was on the soundtrack of the flop 1973 musical version of Lost Horizon.

83. While I Remember You – (Lee Holdridge) Early 2000s. A gorgeous ballad, with lyrics that open in French, then switch to English. Anyone who ever heard Jane perform this song said it was destined for the next CD, it was that good.

“And though you’re gone forever/Wherever you may be/I just hope that you are smiling/While remembering me.”

84. With You I’m Born Again – the old Billy Preston/Syreeta Wright song from the early 80s. Sung at Scullers Club, September 1998.

85. The World is a Circle – another very early song, also from the flop Lost Horizon musical.

85. You Raise Me Up – Jane’s intense and soulful version of Josh Groban’s hit, accompanied by Alex Rybeck’s gospel-tinged piano. This replaced L’important C’est La Rose as her closing number at her December 2008 concerts.

Or how about another Christmas CD featuring these Jane-sung songs?

1. Adestes Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) 2. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 3. Joy to the World 4. Lay My Burden Down - a song about the Christmas story from Mary’s perspective. 5. Mary Did You Know? - ’s deeply reverent song about Jesus. 6. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – sung at her Christmas shows at the Plush Room and Rrazz Room. A great fun number. 7. Silent Night, with a modified first verse about the winter solstice and nature. 8. Silver Bells 9. There’s Still My Joy for Christmas Day – Jane debuted this redemptive Kathy Mattea song at the Rrazz Room in December 2008.